New Edinburgh Cricket Club Ottawa News story

As we get closer to the upcoming 2016 cricket season here in Ottawa (finally!), I wanted to write a quick note on behalf of the 2015-16 NECC Executive.

Firstly, I want to applaud our members for their ongoing support and passion for the game. It was great to see some of you already sharpening your skills during the winter league practices at Carleton University.

Our primary commitment as a club is to be a competitive cricket team in the Challenge, Citizen and T-20 Divisions. I encourage all playing members to continue to strive to improve their batting, bowling and fielding. This year, our practices will be held at Rideau Hall every Thursday and I expect the same level of commitment and effort that has been a shown by Burghs players over the years. Let us collectively work towards playoff success in all three divisions.

Beyond our competitive commitments on the field, there are various social activities that will be organized. For instance, you can book these dates in your social calendar:

We will be organizing a pre-season party at Rideau Hall (May 5th or 12th) to start off the season in style,

Our annual friendly game with the Pirates of the St. Lawrence club in Montreal is booked for June 11,

Our marquee charity event, the annual Memorial Game, will be hosted this year on August 5.

Burghs is currently in a financially secure position, thanks to the efforts of members, past-execs, and our sponsors such as Jack Uppal (Royal Lepage) and East India Company. As a result, our season fees is a modest $150 and 100$ (plus a $5 match fee), for regular members and students respectively. Furthermore, this financial stability allows us to have other ‘perks’ - for instance, there will be a free lunch for select away games throughout the season.

To end, I would like to remind our membership that we need to be champions of Ottawa cricket in general as well. I am pleased to see the number of Burghs members that have taken positions at the OVCC/RH executive level recently – these individuals and their respective teams have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure we have a successful season ahead. Some players have taken up umpiring as well, an area that the league is always looking to bolster. I encourage others to follow suit and support the league’s various efforts in any way you can; after all there can never be too many volunteers in a small league like ours!

On behalf of the Burghs executive, I wish you all a great upcoming season.